The cause of the incident was that a man claimed to have seen a job advertisement in 58 cities. The advertisement claims that a nightclub in Guangxi recruits security guards with a monthly salary of 6,000 yuan. Attracted by this advertisement, he was coerced by a criminal gang to sneak into Cambodia, illegally detained by a gang, and was repeatedly drawn blood, and his life was dying.

58 The same city responded to this matter: it has communicated with relevant departments and the case is under continuous investigation. It has not yet been determined that the victim saw the recruitment information in 58 cities, nor did he find the recruitment information released by the corresponding enterprises.

The specific situation has to wait for the results of the police investigation. But over the years, netizens' complaints about 58 cities have hardly stopped. On the black cat complaint platform, there are tens of thousands of complaints about "58 cities", including being cheated by shell companies when looking for a job, being met by door-to-door masters and maliciously charging. There are also more than 3,000 judgments about "58 cities" and "fraud" in online judgment documents.

Why do complaints continue, and the problem of 58 cities still exists?

As one of the earliest classified information websites, the information on the platform covers recruitment, real estate, used cars, housekeeping services, decoration building materials and so on. It is a display platform with many and miscellaneous information, and the advertising format is relatively low. Some people in the industry even compare it to a telephone pole with the advertisement of "Putian Department" on the roadside many years ago.

Because it does "resell" traffic, a lot of information is charged according to the number of clicks. If the audit is strengthened and the threshold is raised, the amount of information released will be reduced to a certain extent, thus affecting the income. This determines that it has no incentive to pay for this cost. In addition, most of them are aimed at blue-collar groups with insufficient discrimination ability, and the probability of being cheated is greater. Therefore, the reputation of 58 cities has been bad.

After this incident, 58 cities should realize that the brutal and extensive traffic business is honey arsenic, and making up your mind to scrape the bones may be a way out.

According to complaints from netizens, the most common pits in 58 cities are mainly divided into two categories: job hunting and door-to-door service.

The operation method of recruiting regular job seekers in enterprises is usually to charge certain fees to candidates in various names such as deposit, food expenses and computer deposit, and then the relevant contacts are lost; Or job seekers fall into new scams after entering the company, such as pyramid schemes and fraud.

However, in the following year and a half, the company only helped Yun Fei to complete the recording of his music works. After that, he only got the music copyright income of 135 yuan, and other commitments such as recording MV were not realized.

What is even more incredible is that the boss borrowed money from Yunfei and seven or eight colleagues on the grounds of the company's operational difficulties, urging them to download online loans such as installment music and 360 installment. On the repayment date, the boss paid back the money and then continued to cash out. As of February 2022, Yun Fei has owed more than 30,000 yuan in online loans. He wanted to get his money back and leave the company. The boss turned against him and said that he would not pay back the money if he didn't return to the company.

Later, Yun Fei discovered that the company didn't get the business license until 202 1, but when he was looking for a job, the company could publish the recruitment information in 58 cities. He said that the company recruits people in 58 cities all the year round, and the routines are the same. The person who needs to sign the contract pays the money and then does not take the initiative to serve. Many job seekers are still trapped in the pit of online loans. "I have seen more than a dozen people in a similar situation to me. Some people can't stand it and feel unlucky to leave. "

With training fees and online loans, Yun Fei spent 59,455 yuan and worked for the company for free for more than a year. He doesn't want more people to make the same mistake and hopes that the platform will punish the company immediately. However, according to his description, he complained about the company three times in 58 cities from February of 10, and the customer service just called to record the situation, and then it was gone.

Door-to-door service such as moving is the second largest pit in 58 cities.

Some door-to-door masters will increase the price beyond the price displayed on the platform, maliciously charging, and many netizens will be pitted for thousands of dollars.

Xiaoyu University, from Shanghai, just graduated from work and shared a room with her roommate in Minhang District, Shanghai. She told Deep Burning that the sewer pipe in the bathroom of the house she rented was blocked. On February 20th, her roommate made an appointment for the door-to-door service of dredging pipelines in 58 cities at the price of 128 yuan. After the maintenance master came to the door, he said that the sewer was seriously blocked and needed to use dredging agent. The price of this dredging agent is 280 yuan/kg.

After dredging, the master said that he poured 9 Jin of dredging agent and needed to pay 2500 yuan for materials. Together with the payment of 128 yuan on the platform of 58 cities, the two girls spent a total of 2628 yuan to dredge the sewer.

Later, Xiaoyu inquired online and found that there were many similar complaints. She thinks this service is fraudulent to consumers. Then she called 123 15 to complain, and contacted the other company to negotiate with the maintenance master to solve the refund. At first, the door-to-door master refused to refund on the grounds of telling the price. When asked about the specific brand materials and market price of dredging agent, the other party refused to provide it. Xiaoyu found 58 city customer service. The other party said that it is only a platform party and will not intervene in customers. It is suggested that Xiaoyu consult with the maintenance master to solve the problem. After several consultations, the master also blacked out Xiaoyu's WeChat. Finally, after many twists and turns, Xiaoyu got a refund from 1700 yuan.

In addition, many people encounter black intermediaries and fake houses when renting houses, and they are pitted in the sale of second-hand goods.

Users are miserable, and business owners with regular operations are also complaining in 58 cities.

User Shanshan is a partner of a legal consulting company in Guangzhou. She is looking for a shop assistant. Not long ago, a salesman from 58 cities came to sell recruitment business. The other party said, "This position is very good, and at least 10-20 people can be interviewed a month." The two sides signed the contract on the spot and paid 4600 yuan.

"After paying, no one submitted a resume, and the salesperson suggested that we promote it. After the promotion, some resumes pushed by the platform couldn't get through, and some said they didn't vote for our company. " According to Shanshan's feedback, 50% of the job-seeking addresses are from other provinces, and 90% of the job-seekers do not meet the job-seeking intention. "And we have to pay for all clicks on the resume, 2-3 times at a time, but most of the job seekers recommended by the platform are looking for jobs such as factory workers and Yueyue, and the positions don't match at all."

It took half a month to recruit, and it cost more than 1500. Shanshan only got an appointment with a job seeker aged 19. After the interview, she also found that she did not meet the requirements at all. She began to look for the theory of 58 cities, only to find that there was a very small line in the contract signed by both parties. "The signing representative of Party B has no right to promise anything outside the service list. If Party A claims the right outside the service list, 58 cities will not recognize it."

"This means that all the hype of their salesmen doesn't count, and I feel deeply involved." Shanshan said that at the same time, 58 cities rejected her request for a refund.

Similar pits are too numerous to mention.

The first is related to the business model.

According to the financial report before privatization, the income sources of 58 cities include membership business, online marketing services, e-commerce services and others. Members refer to the paid merchants of the platform. In other words, 58 cities mainly rely on their own platforms to sell traffic and earn advertising fees or commissions from enterprises or individuals that provide demand.

Ge Jia, an Internet analyst, mentioned: "What 58 cities do is resell traffic. The only indicator for a company to make money is how much traffic it has. The extreme desire for traffic exceeds any other factor. "

For example, with user feedback, some companies can post recruitment information on the platform without a business license, or falsify their qualifications. In fact, lowering the audit threshold can attract more companies, that is, gather traffic for the platform. From the perspective of traffic, some people cheat or sell fakes on the platform, which improves the activity and even contributes to the platform.

"Moreover, some poor quality information does not mean that there is no traffic, such as black production. What we think is messy and low-quality spam is very helpful to attract traffic. " Ge Jia said.

And a lot of information in 58 cities is charged according to the number of clicks. The greater the traffic, the more clicks, and the more stored value the enterprise consumes. If we crack down on fraudulent businesses, there will be fewer corresponding gold owners, and the platform has no incentive to improve this situation. Therefore, all the practices of the platform are based on the flow principle, which reduces the entry threshold and relaxes the review and attack to some extent.

Some people say that the platform should be audited and accurately matched, but both screening and matching require technology and cost. Ge Jia pointed out that the business model of traffic trafficking determines that it has no incentive to pay this cost. However, if there are 200 people answering a certain demand, if the algorithm is adjusted to improve the quality and matching degree, there may be only 20 people left, and the fee charged by the platform per click will decrease.

Senior product manager judges pointed out that the audit is equivalent to giving credit endorsement to the enterprises on the platform, but it is possible that the money it earns from the business owners is not enough to audit the cost. If the return on investment is negative, the business will not be established. The premise of the establishment of classified information business is low cost, and the platform makes money for information release, not for credit investigation.

According to the judge's analysis, the quality of website pages and pictures in 58 cities has not changed much over the years. It can be seen that they have no so-called UI design, user experience, interaction and other considerations. Their perception and experience are not good, and they will also choose some relatively low-end people in reverse. Most of the users who naturally stay on the platform are these groups.

On the other hand, "this group faced by 58 cities is also easy to be deceived. For example, blue-collar recruitment users have insufficient academic qualifications and knowledge, which leads to limited information screening ability. They are not wrong, but such a group is in an informal environment. The probability of being deceived is greater. " The judge said, moreover, many people lost their self-judgment ability because of some seemingly powerful endorsements. For example, some people think that 58 cities were listed companies before, and that companies on the platform are more reliable. In fact, this information has not been recognized.

Of course, objectively speaking, such mode management is also very difficult.

The judge said that it is easy to ask enterprises to submit information, but it is not easy to identify the authenticity of the information; Furthermore, even if the company is identified as formal, it does not mean that its business is formal, and it does not mean that no one is doing private illegal business. Therefore, even if the platform investment cost is rectified, it is difficult to completely solve the chaos.

In addition, Zhang Cong, a senior Internet practitioner, said that the business in 58 cities is relatively low-end and low-frequency, which is labor-intensive, with low gold content, low threshold, poor commercial liquidity and low scale boundary, but it is very difficult to manage.

"There are also Internet companies that solve similar problems better, such as Didi and Meituan. The probability of a malignant event is not very high. Because it is a high-frequency service, it can be controlled by strict standards to reduce the probability of malignant events. Compared with low-frequency services, the income is very small, and enterprise management is very difficult. " Zhang Cong said.

Finally, there is the issue of corporate culture and values.

Many people say that the problem of 58 cities is "ancestral", and there is also a lot of discussion about the values of this company. At least, one feature we can see is that the company pays more attention to immediate interests and lacks long-term patience. "The company knows this problem, but it has not made up its mind to eradicate this poison, because to solve the problem, it is necessary to move its core business and income. The company can't stand the process of moving, and rectification has become a very important but not urgent matter. " Zhang Cong analysis.

"In the event of a vicious incident, 58 cities are pitiful and hateful." Zhang Cong said that unfairness lies in the fact that there is no way to completely avoid the vicious incidents of many individuals. The reason for hate is that similar incidents have occurred for many years, and the platform is still not determined to change.

Therefore, 58 City is a traditional Internet traffic business, and problems such as business model, difficulty in supervision and platform values have led to a tragedy similar to Cambodia's "blood slave".

Let's take a look first. Who should bear the responsibility when users encounter vicious incidents on the Internet platform?

Li Sheng, a partner of Beijing Zhipu Law Firm, said that Article 27 of China's "Electronic Commerce Law" stipulates that operators of e-commerce platforms should require operators who apply to enter the platform to submit their real information such as their identity, address, contact information and administrative license, conduct verification and registration, establish registration files, and verify and update them regularly. If the network platform fails to fulfill the necessary obligation to review the basic information of the recruiting unit, causing losses to the candidates, the network platform shall bear corresponding fault liability or joint liability with the employer.

"If the platform fails to carry out further verification or take necessary measures such as deleting, shielding and disconnecting links after receiving complaints from users about the recruitment company, in this case, the platform needs to be jointly and severally liable with the recruitment company for the expanded losses. If the relevant competent authorities find that the platform has not fulfilled its audit and management obligations, they can take measures such as ordering correction within a time limit, fines, and suspension of business for rectification. " Li Sheng added.

However, in actual cases, on the one hand, it is difficult to clearly define the losses suffered by users; on the other hand, related companies may evade legal risks in corresponding liability clauses, and it is difficult for users to strictly investigate their legal responsibilities.

Many people in the industry say that the business model of 58 Tongcheng and similar enterprises has moral defects, but it is difficult to determine obvious legal problems. However, Zhang Cong believes: "In the event of an incident, the platform should not be ruined, but should bear social responsibility for humanitarianism and give appropriate subsidies to victims."

Not only in 58 cities, Ge Jia said that Internet companies that do traffic business mostly have problems of false information and fake and shoddy in the early days, but through the corresponding nodes, the platform can develop more business models and make money by selling goods and members, so that those "poor traffic" may not be needed.

"In the end, only by getting rid of the shackles of traffic and establishing a diversified business model can we get out of this strange circle. Many Internet giants did the same in the early barbaric growth period. Later, many of them went ashore to establish new business models, but some companies still did so. " Ge Jia said.

Word of mouth can survive because of its market position. After the acquisition of Tongcheng, Jiji.com is the leader in the field of classified information, and the classified catalogue needs enough information. In addition, 58 cities are the main channel for blue-collar recruitment, with a large number of blue-collar workers, and the cost that enterprises want to pay is not high. 58 City has always been a platform that enterprises with blue-collar recruitment needs can't bypass. So no matter how to spit out 58 cities, as long as the market demand is still there, it will still exist.

But in the future, the status of 58 cities may not be maintained.

Nowadays, there are companies in the original advantageous areas of 58 cities, and their situation is very embarrassing: the market value of Keholding Company in the real estate field far exceeds that of 58 cities before delisting; There are many cars in the used car field, and everyone's car has also gained a firm foothold; The popularity and market share of cargo Lala in the freight field also exceeds that of the fast dog taxi under 58 cities; Zhaopin, BOSS and other recruitment websites are more valuable than the recruitment information in 58 cities. Idle trading platforms have also been separated by idle fish for most of the traffic.

In the face of this major crisis, 58 cities should be alert. "In the future, 58 cities have become unstable according to the current model, and adjustments need to be made to purify the information of the platform by raising the threshold, strengthening auditing and governance." Ge Jia said.

The judge also believes that there are more and more solutions on the market now, and 58 cities are doomed to decline. The more choices users have, the stronger its substitutability.

Zhang Cong mentioned that, in fact, it is advantageous for 58 cities to do a lot of business with huge traffic, but the company has no determination and has not settled down to do well in every field.

Today, 58 Tongcheng has become the enterprise with the largest coverage, but it is difficult to gain market recognition in every field. If there is no fundamental change in the future, there may be more vicious incidents caused by platforms.

* At the request of the interviewee, Xiaoyu, Yun Fei, Shanshan, Judge and Zhang Cong are pseudonyms.